About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Dalmore 12 – You Can Sense the Potential Greatness, But Not Unlock It….

2014 was an exciting year at Whyte and Mackay, owners of the Dalmore, Jura, Tamnavulin and Fettercairn distilleries. Following the sale of India’s United Sprints to Diageo and the antitrust regulator’s demand that Diageo not hold on to W&M the company went into months of uncertainty. Last May, W&M was sold to Emperador, a brandy producer from the Philippines in one piece, despite rumors that Diageo might keep Dalmore and Tamnavulin to itself. Sadly, that probably means that the whisky will continue to be presented below its potential – which can be glimpsed in the tasting, but not quite gotten to.

Photo Credit: jamstudio.uk.com

As you can see on the spirit still on the left, it has a water jacket, designed to increase reflux and produce a more refined spirit. It’s then aged in mostly first fill ex bourbon casks, and in the special variety of sherry casks only Dalmore has, Matusalem Oloroso from Gonzalez Byass, as well as other types of sherry butts. The Dalmore “house style” is a sherried whisky, and the 12 year old is a 1:1 mix of those two types of barrel.

An interesting fact about Dalmore is that over the past few years, peated whisky has been produced at the distillery, and quite possibly we’ll get to see a peated expression in the future. It might be quite spectacular with their sherry casks (especially if a miracle happens and it gets presented non chill filtered at 46% and with a light hand on the E-150a).

Photo Credit: spirituosen-superbillig.com

Dalmore 12 (40%)

Appearance: Bronze (Albeit artificial), quick and thick legs.

Nose: Starts with a vegetal note on the nose, dissolving into some sherry and orange. Some time brings out raisins and dried fruit, namely prunes and apricots with a slight fruit brandy note. Throughout, the malt is very present. Just a hint of dusty sherry plays with the nose after some time in the glass.

Palate: Oily and bitter, with sherry sweetness laid over it. Mouth drying with spices along the middle of the tongue and a dry feeling on the inside of the cheeks.

Linger: Spice at the back of the throat, with milk chocolate and sherry on the back part of the tongue. A lot of residual sweetness on the tongue in a very dry finish.

Conclusion

Dalmore frustrates me. On the one hand, it’s an under performing distillery as far as the core range goes. On the other, it has a whisky that ages gracefully, which explains its ability to command very high and record setting prices for old and rare expressions.

The 12 year old has flavor, and has a real potential that’s just beyond the drinker. Did I mention my frustration?